Dynamical tides in exoplanetary systems containing Hot Jupiters: confronting theory and observations
Authors:
Chernov et al
Abstract:
We study the effect of dynamical tides associated with the excitation of gravity waves in an interior radiative region of the central star on orbital evolution in observed systems containing Hot Jupiters. We consider WASP-43, Ogle-tr-113, WASP-12, and WASP-18 which contain stars on the main sequence (MS). For these systems there are observational estimates regarding the rate of change of the orbital period. We also investigate Kepler-91 which contains an evolved giant star. We adopt the formalism of Ivanov et al. for calculating the orbital evolution. For the MS stars we determine expected rates of orbital evolution under different assumptions about the amount of dissipation acting on the tides, estimate the effect of stellar rotation for the two most rapidly rotating stars and compare results with observations. All cases apart from possibly WASP-43 are consistent with a regime in which gravity waves are damped during their propagation over the star. However, at present this is not definitive as observational errors are large. We find that although it is expected to apply to Kepler-91, linear radiative damping cannot explain this dis- sipation regime applying to MS stars. Thus, a nonlinear mechanism may be needed. Kepler-91 is found to be such that the time scale for evolution of the star is comparable to that for the orbit. This implies that significant orbital circularisation may have occurred through tides acting on the star. Quasi-static tides, stellar winds, hydrodynamic drag and tides acting on the planet have likely played a minor role.
Magnetospheres of hot Jupiters: hydrodynamic models & ultraviolet absorption
Authors:
Alexander et al
Abstract:
We present hydrodynamic simulations of stellar wind-magnetosphere interactions in hot Jupiters such as WASP-12b. For fiducial stellar wind rates we find that a planetary magnetic field of a few G produces a large magnetospheric cavity, which is typically 6-9 planetary radii in size. A bow shock invariably forms ahead of the magnetosphere, but the pre-shock gas is only mildly supersonic (with typical Mach numbers of ≃1.6-1.8) so the shock is weak. This results in a characteristic signature in the ultraviolet light curve: a broad absorption feature that leads the optical transit by 10-20% in orbital phase. The shapes of our synthetic light-curves are consistent with existing observations of WASP-12b, but the required near-UV optical depth (τ∼0.1) can only be achieved if the shocked gas cools rapidly. We further show that radiative cooling is inefficient, so we deem it unlikely that a magnetospheric bow shock is responsible for the observed near-UV absorption. Finally, we apply our model to two other well-studied hot Jupiters (WASP-18b and HD209458b), and suggest that UV observations of more massive short-period planets (such as WASP-18b) will provide a straightforward test to distinguish between different models of circumplanetary absorption.
Balancing the Energy Budget of Short-Period Giant Planets: Evidence for Reflective Clouds and Optical Absorbers
Authors:
Schwartz et al
Abstract:
We consider fifty transiting short-period giant planets for which eclipse depths have been measured at multiple infrared wavelengths. The aggregate dayside emission spectrum of these planets exhibits no molecular features, nor is brightness temperature greater in the near-infrared. We combine brightness temperatures at various infrared wavelengths to estimate the dayside effective temperature of each planet. We find that dayside temperatures are proportional to irradiation temperatures, indicating modest Bond albedo and no internal energy sources, plus weak evidence that dayside temperatures of the hottest planets are disproportionately high. We place joint constraints on Bond albedo, AB, and day-to-night transport efficiency, ε, for six planets by combining thermal eclipse and phase variation measurements (HD 149026b, HD 189733b, HD 209458b, WASP-12b, WASP-18b, and WASP-43b). We confirm that planets with high irradiation temperatures have low heat transport efficiency, and that WASP-43b has inexplicably poor transport; these results are statistically significant even if the precision of single-eclipse measurements has been overstated by a factor of three. Lastly, we attempt to break the AB-ε degeneracy for nine planets with both thermal and optical eclipse observations, but no thermal phase measurements. We find a systematic offset between Bond albedos inferred from thermal phase variations (AB≈0.35) and geometric albedos extracted from visible light measurements (Ag≈0.1). These observations can be reconciled if most hot Jupiters have clouds that reflect 30-50 per cent of incident near-infrared radiation, as well as optical absorbers in the cloud particles or above the cloud deck.
Transit Search from Antarctica and Chile - Comparison and Combination
Authors:
Fruth et al
Abstract:
Observing sites at the East-Antarctic plateau are considered to provide exceptional conditions for astronomy. The aim of this work is to assess its potential for detecting transiting extrasolar planets through a comparison and combination of photometric data from Antarctica with time series from a midlatitude site.
During 2010, the two small aperture telescopes ASTEP 400 (Dome C) and BEST II (Chile) together performed an observing campaign of two target fields and the transiting planet WASP-18b. For the latter, a bright star, Dome C appears to yield an advantageous signal-to-noise ratio. For field surveys, both Dome C and Chile appear to be of comparable photometric quality. However, within two weeks, observations at Dome C yield a transit detection efficiency that typically requires a whole observing season in Chile. For the first time, data from Antarctica and Chile have been combined to extent the observational duty cycle. This approach is both feasible in practice and favorable for transit search, as it increases the detection yield by 12-18%.
